2011 – Nova Scotia

Dr Shelagh Leahey, from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is celebrated for her outstanding contributions to her family practice and for leadership within her community.

A graduate of Dalhousie Medical School, Dr Leahey moved to Yarmouth in 1976. Her practice included in‐patient care, emergency care, obstetrics, and palliative care services.

In recent years, her leadership was paramount to the successful development of the new Ocean View Family Practice in Yarmouth, which serves patients who were previously without a family physician. This medical centre provides a new model for health care delivery in Nova Scotia and supports efforts to recruit more physicians to the district. Dr Leahey continues to serve as the centre’s Medical Administrator and mentor to international medical graduates.

Dr Leahey has served with Doctors Nova Scotia for 24 years, including five years on its Executive. Since 2003, she has been the Continuing Medical Education Coordinator at Dalhousie University, and was President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia from 2008 to 2010. She has participated on the Board of Cancer Care Nova Scotia and held a variety of positions with the South West Nova District Health Authority.

Dr Leahey attributes her professional success to her mother, Marjorie—who keeps her laughing and “in her place”—her three brothers, three sisters, and 17 nieces and nephews. In her spare time, Dr Leahey enjoys travelling, photography, and cooking healthy, gluten‐free gourmet meals for her family and friends.